A new beginning
by Sabaku no Keiko
Summary: Just one month after Stella's leaving Sinclair sends someone new to the CSIs. Crystal is beautiful and smart. But when something happens, the whole team knows that someone is after her. Will all end up for good?
1. Chapter 1

_**A new beginning**_

It was raining when Mac went into the elevator and pulled the button for the CSI lab. It was Tuesday morning and nobody in sight.

He sighed. Always the same. When he reached the story of the lab, he went out of the elevator. He headed into his office.

Mac laid his coat over the hat stand and walked to his desk. He turned on the computer and sat down in his chair, only waiting for someone to come in.

And someone came in.

A brunette woman in her mid-thirties made her way to his office door. Her hair fell curly in the middle of her back. She looked like a model to him.

He stood up and waved her in, just when she reached his door. She smiled shyly and let him lead her in.

"Hello, my name's… I'm Crystal McKinsey. And you are Detective Taylor, right?"

"Yeah, I am. What can I do for you?" he said and sat down opposite of her.

"Well… I've been transferred to the lab yesterday and well… nobody told you, I think. So I came to introduce myself."

"Wait. You're transferred to my lab?"

"Yes, that's just what I said. Is everything okay?"

Mac just stared out of the window of his office. It was just one month since Stella had left and Sinclair was already sending him someone new?

He shook his head gently. His boss could be such an ass when he wanted to be. Mac sighed and turned toward Crystal.

"Okay. I'm fine, thanks. So… you are going to work in my team so I'll introduce you to the others. Is that okay?"

Crystal nodded graciously and stood up. She walked after her new boss into a kind of conference room.

She looked around and felt a bit uncomfortable. Everybody in the room stared at her and Mac. But he just walked to one end of the table.

"Hey guys. Listen to me." But no one seemed to notice him.

"GUYS! LISTEN! NOW!" he yelled.

Now everyone turned to face their boss. Mac smiled a bit. He looked each co-worker in the eyes: Danny, Lindsay, Hawkes, Adam.

Nobody couldn't help but look to the ground when the eyes of their boss met theirs. Mac sighed once again.

"Good morning everybody. I have something to say. Sinclair sent us a new co-worker: Crystal McKinsey." He pointed towards her.

"She's working with us now."

Crystal smiled shyly and looked to the ground. Danny couldn't help but grin when he saw the disbelieving looks in Adam's and Hawkes' face.

Even if they all missed Stella, they had to move on quickly or it would distract work and personal life.

* * *

Mac walked into the lab, careful not to make a sound. He knew he would disturb the new one. And he wanted to watch how well she was working on the evidence.

But nothing worked.

"I heard you, Taylor. Come in or get out quickly." She mumbled.

And so he went in and looked over the woman's shoulder. She blushed a bit when she noticed how near he was.

"What are you working on?" he asked.

"I'm working on the clothes of the last victim. There is lots of blood on it, but I found another thing on it. I'm running it through all databases to find out."

"Good. I-"

Mac's cell phone rang.

"Taylor?"

"_Hey Mac, it's Don here. I got a crime scene for you. Are you takin' it or not?"_

"I'll get it. Send me the address. I'll be there in a few minutes."

He closed the phone and put it back into his pockets. Mac noticed that Crystal was carefully watching him.

Then he made a quick decision.

"Crystal? You come with me. Danny can finish the evidence."

At his name, the other man looked up in disbelieving. He should do the job of the new one and she could go to a crime scene with his boss?

Mac watched him carefully. He knew Danny hated to do extra work, but he wanted Crystal out in the field to discover her abilities.

* * *

As they drove to the crime scene, it was quiet at first. But Crystal wanted to know some things about the lab.

"Who was my forerunner?" she asked.

Mac turned to face the beautiful young lady.

"Stella Bonasera. She was the best co-supervisor the lab ever had."

"She was your best friend, wasn't she?"

"…Yes. How'd you know that?"

"Adam told me when he tried to flirt with me." She chuckled and looked out of the window.

Mac smiled and sighed a bit.

"Yeah, that's Adam. He always flirts with beautiful woman, you know."

She turned to face her boss. Did he just say that she was beautiful? She raised an eyebrow and he noticed that. But he didn't take a step back.

"So… how long have you been in New York?" he asked instead.

"About… twelve years now. I was born in Chicago."

"Oh, you, too? I was born there, too. But when I was honourable released from the Marines, I took the job of the lab supervisor here in New York."

"You were with the Marines? In which…"

"… I was in the Baijut. Hard times."

"I heard about that. You lost your friend, right?"

Now Mac was quiet. His thoughts drifted away to the day when his friend and him had tried to safe a little boy from a shooting.

Both had died after getting in the crossfire of the soldiers and the enemy. He nearly jumped out of his skin, when someone gently touched his shoulder.

"Mac? Everything's okay? I didn't want to hurt you."

Crystal carefully watched his eyes, full of sorrow. She knew it hadn't been good to ask him about that.

He sighed and nodded slightly, his face full of pain.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Really, Son of Strength? You know, you can tell me everything, even if you don't know me. I won't tell it to someone until you tell me to."

Mac smiled at her and stopped the car.

"I know, brilliant glass."

Then they went out the car. Mac went to process the crime scene and Crystal to ask the witnesses.

She crossed the way of a tall male with black hair. He was obviously a cop from homicide unit.

"Hey, I'm Don!" he called out. "Don Flack."

She turned and faced the man.

"I'm Crystal McKinsey. Nice to meet you, brown stranger."

"How do you call me?"

"Brown Stranger. And I won't explain why. So, what do you want?"

"Do you want to go out on a date with me?"

"Let me think… No."

She passed by and didn't turn around 'til she reached Mac. They exchanged a look and began to work.

After a few minutes Don came to Mac and watched Crystal. In his eyes she was pretty gorgeous.

"What's up, Don? You're staring at her about five minutes now."

He looked up and shook his head.

"I can't believe she's working for you. She's too good looking to work as a CSI. She would make a pretty good cop, don't you think?"

Mac rolled his eyes quietly and went back to work.

Then someone cut his thoughts off.

"Mac? Don? Get away from here. Now." Crystal whispered.

"Why? What's up?" both asked.

"Don't ask. Just get away. Do me the favour."

She began to move backward, away from the body. Her eyes were full of fear, but her face didn't show something.

"Get away, NOW." She said.

Mac and Flack exchanged a look and began to walk away, not knowing of what was going on. They were all behind the crime scene tape, when Crystal cursed.

"I forgot the camera! Damn it!"

She ran back and picked it up.

Then the bomb went off.

* * *

** A/N: uh oh... what did just happened? Will Crystal survive? Will she go on a date with Don? What does "Brown Stranger"****mean? Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**hope you liked it so far. please review xD**


	2. Chapter 2

**sorry if it took me too long to upload but I had some sort of stress in school and I couldn't write that fast, but... here's the 2nd chapter of this story xD**

* * *

_**The Story of the past**_

Mac sighed and walked back and forth in the long hall of the hospital. It's been two hours since Crystal had been brought to surgery.

It was bad. He hadn't seen her, but the doctor who had examined her first after the bomb went off said it was bad. Very bad.

He hated to wait when someone he liked was hurt that way. It was his team and it was his duty to let them be safe. And now he failed.

Mac made himself many self-reproaches while he waited for the rest of the team to come or Crystal to come out of surgery.

He sighed once again and sat down. After a few minutes Don and Danny stormed through the door, behind them Lindsay and Adam.

They all looked their boss in the eyes, looking for a little bit of hope, but saw nothing. Lindsay kneeled besides Mac and touched his shoulder.

"Everything will be alright. Trust me. She'll make it." She whispered.

He smiled lightly and leaned back, closing his eyes. There had been always someone who could comfort him, even just for a few seconds.

Everyone sat down beside him, careful not to say something inappropriate. They always knew when it was time to shut up.

Time passed by. The team slowly fell asleep, tired of the sorrow and pain for a young woman they barely knew.

Only Mac was awake, thinking of any way he could have saved her. Maybe he could have held her back when she went to get the camera.

Maybe he could have taken Danny to the crime scene. He would have let the camera where it was and ran.

Mac buried his face into his hands, barely noticing a small doctor walking up to them. He looked up, watching the woman approach and smile slightly.

"Are you the family of Crystal McKinsey?" she said.

He shook his head.

"No, my name's Mac Taylor. I'm her boss."

The doctor raised one eyebrow and cocked her head slightly, just like she wanted to say something about the other guys (and girl) who were sleeping.

She seemed to think about something, but held it back and showed Mac the way to Crystal's hospital room.

Standing before it, she turned and faced Mac who looked worried.

"Hey. It's not as bad as it looks. She's got the worst damage on her throat, but her face is totally okay. She'll be out of here soon, Mr. Taylor."

He nodded thankfully and entered the room, right after the doctor had left. He took a deep breath, walking slowly to the small hospital bed.

Looking at Crystal's face, he took a seat right next to her bed. Noticing her blushed forehead, he slightly touched it with the back of his hand.

That was the time when she opened her eyes.

"Hey…" she croaked, swallowing hard.

"Hi. How're you feeling?"

She gently shrugged and closed her eyes for a moment. She knew she had messed up everything she could.

"Oh, Crystal. Why didn't you just leave the camera stranded and come back to us? Would've been much easier."

"I know… I just wanted to… have the photos… for work… you know?" she smiled apologetic.

"So you risked your life for photos?" Mac asked and typically raised his eyebrows.

"Looks like…" Crystal agreed. "I know this sounds odd, but could you put your hand back on my forehead?"

"Yeah… sure…" he answered and did it.

She sighed relieved and closed her eyes again. Mac could feel the heat of her forehead burning on his own skin.

"You know who could try to kill you? Or us?"

Crystal's gaze dropped and looked interested on the door.

"You have to tell me."

She sighed and thought about her options. Maybe she could lie to him… but that wouldn't be THAT good. Finally she agreed with herself and decided to tell him.

"When I was a little bit younger, my mother told me that I was the child of a mafia boss and… well, he didn't want me so he first tried to kill my mother when she was pregnant with me.

Later, when I was born, he tried it again and again, but we always could escape. When I was ten years old, he succeeded and killed my mother in an explosion. My two brothers and I went to my aunt who was living near the centre of Chicago.

That's when he let me be. But years later, he came back and tried once again to kill me. That was the real reason I went to New York. To start a new life and escape from my father. I can't believe he found me…"

When Crystal started to cry quietly, Mac gently touched her arm and stroked the top of her head. He knew it was really hard for her.

"It's okay. We'll get him and then he gets what he deserves. I promise."

* * *

Later that day, Mac came back into the room, only to see Don sitting near Crystal and talking quietly to her.

He stood still, careful not to make a sound.

"And what did you mean when you said 'brown stranger'?"

Crystal chuckled and noticed her boss standing in the door. Both raised an eyebrow and she began to explain.

"That's the translation of your name, Donald. You never heard that?" she asked and smiled.

He shook his head and cocked it to one side. He seemed to think about what he learned just now. Then he turned and saw Mac.

"Oh, hey Mac. I… wanted to go…" he said and hurried out of the room.

Mac chuckled and went to the plastic chair next to Crystal's bed. When he sat down, he let out a small sigh.

"What?" the woman in front of him asked.

"Just thinking how reckless this was. I was worried."

"I'm sorry… I didn't thought of any other option."

"I would have done the same." He said and smiled warmly at her.

"Sure."

Both looked at each other and laughed slightly, only causing Crystal to cough and grimacing in pain.

"Everything's okay?" Mac asked and touched her hand.

She nodded.


End file.
